Current feeding rail element for electrified toy railway tracks

ABSTRACT

A current feeding rail element for electrified toy railway tracks including an elongated body of molded plastic material provided with a pair of current rails mounted on the top face and having fastening tongues extending through apertures in the body and bent over to form contact faces at the bottom face of the body, coupling ribs being provided at the bottom face of the body for detachably mounting a connector having corresponding coupling means and a pair of contact members adapted to contact a pair of rail-fastening tongues when the connector is clamped against the bottom face of the rail element.

United States Patent Inventor Godtfred Kirk Christiansen Billund,Denmark Appl. No. 873,972 Filed Nov. 4, I969 Patented June 8, I971Assignee Interlego A.G.

Zug, Switzerland Priority Dec. 6, 1968 Denmark 5975/68 CURRENT FEEDINGRAIL ELEMENT FOR ELECTRIFIED TOY RAILWAY TRACKS 5 Claims, I0 DrawingFigs.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.040.665 5/l936 McKeige238/l0E 2,084,322 6/1937 Crane 238/l0E 3,462,073 2/1949 Daughton 238/10E 3,464,624 9/1969 Christiansen... 238/10E Primary Examiner-ArthurL. La Point Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney-Stevens,Davis, Miller and Mosher ABSTRACT: A current feeding rail element forelectrified toy railway tracks including an elongated body of moldedplastic material provided with a pair of current rails mounted on thetop face and having fastening tongues extending through apertures in thebody and bent over to form contact faces at the bottom face of the body,coupling ribs being provided at the US. Cl 238/10E, bottom face of thebody for detachably mounting a connector 46/ I having correspondingcoupling means and a pair of contact Int. Cl A63h 19/30 members adaptedto contact a pair of rail-fastening tongues Field of Search 238/10, 10when the connector is clamped against the bottom face of the A-F; 246/1rail element.

(4o 0 0 0 I I I l I L I I I 1 C) O! 34 10 O O L l 1 l & 3 i Q Q J O O 3431 O O g 1 PATENIEU JUN 8197i Q 3583631 sum 1 OF 2 CURRENT FEEDING RAILELEMENT FOR ELECTRIFIED TOY RAILWAY TRACKS This invention relates to toybuilding sets including elements for building toy railway tracks and,more particularly, to elements adapted to supply electric current from apower source, such as a battery or a transformer, to sections of anelectrified toy railway track.

One object of the invention is to provide simple and inexpensive meansfor building current feeding rails adapted to be detachably connected toa power source at a plurality of points along the track.

Another object is to provide coupling means for detachably mounting thecurrent feeding rails on the upper face ofa plurality of sleeperelements connecting and supporting the track rails.

A further object is to enable an electrified toy railway track to bebuilt and dismounted by means of standard elements belonging to a toybuilding set, as explained in US. Pat. No. 3,464,624 (application Ser.No. 597,390).

These and related objectives of the present improvements I will appearin detail from the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rail element according to theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, but with the current railsremoved.

FIG. 4 is a sectional bottom plan view of the element shown in FIG. 1showing in broken lines the position of parts of the plate member 30when said plate member and body 20 are pressed together.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a current rail pertaining to the elementshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of one end of the rail shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, perspective view of a connector adapted to bemounted on the bottom face of the element shown in FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view showing a section of an electrified toy trackembodying the current rail element and the connector according to theinvention.

FIG. 10 is a view in section taken on the line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

The current feeding rail element shown in FIGS. 1-4 comprises a body ofmolded plastic material which, for the purpose of electrical toy trains,will be electrically nonconductive. In the top surface of this materialare molded rail supporting ridges 24, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, andslits 21 extending in the lengthwise direction of the element adjacentthe ridges 24 and defining ribs 22 at either side of the element 20. Thebody 20 is further provided with a plurality of apertures 23, thepurpose of which will be explained in the following.

As shown more particularly in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the bottom face of thebody 20 is provided with a central rib 26 extending in the lengthwisemedian plane of the element and with a pair of similar ribs at eitherside of the body 20 and, moreover, with transversally extending ribs 27,which together with the ribs 26 and 25 define a series of rectangularrecesses 28.

A pair of current feeding rails 10 are mounted on the top surface of thebody 20 and are supported on the ridges 24.

The rails 10, one of which is shown more clearly in FIG. 5, are made ofcontinuous metal strips of inverted U-shape fitting down over the ridges24. The top faces 12 of the rails 10 are adapted to provide a slidingcontact with a pair of contact members (not shown) mounted on anelectric toy train moving along the track shown in FIG. 9. One side 11of each rail is inserted in one of the slits 21, so as to be firmlysupported against the adjacent rib 22. The other side 13 of the rail 10is in part provided with extensions 14 adapted to be inserted throughthe apertures 23 to form bendable fastening tongues 14a bent over so asto abut the bottom face of the body 20 within the recesses 28. The bentover fastening tongues also serve as contact faces 14a for contactingthe contact members 34 of the connector 30 shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 4, the slits or apertures 23 in the body 20 arearranged in pairs disposed symmetrically with respect to the central rib26 with one aperture 23 in each of the recesses 28. The width of thecavity 15 of the rails 10, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, is substantiallyequal to the width of the ridges 24, so as to provide for a firm supportof the rails on said ridges.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, one end of each rail 10 is provided with anextension comprising a pair of tongues 16 separated by a narrow slit16a, so as to provide for resilient coupling means for electrically andmechanically connecting the rail with an adjacent rail in anotherelement extending in the lengthwise direction of the rails byintroducing the resilient tongues 16 into the cavity 15 of the adjoiningrail.

The connector shown in FIG. 8 comprises a plate member 30 of moldedplastic material having side and end faces 35 and 37, respectively, andcoupling members in the form of studs 31. The plate 30 is furtherprovided with a pair of apertures 32 adapted to insert resilient contactmembers 34 which, for the sake of clarity, are shown separated from theplate 30 and connected with leads 33 adapted to connect the contactmembers 34 to a stationary power source (not shown).

The shape and dimensions of the plate element 30 and the location of thestuds 31 are such that the connector will fit into a pair of adjoiningrecesses 28 when clamped against the bottom face of the body with thestuds 31 contacting the inner faces of the ribs 25 and 27 and theresilient contact members 34 each contacting one of the rail contactfaces 14a in the recesses 28.

A pair of coupling ribs 36 are located symmetrically with respect to thelengthwise median plane of the plate element 30 at a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the central rib 26 at the bottomface of the body 20, so as to provide for additional coupling means forclamping the connector of FIG. 8 to the bottom face ofthe element 20.

As shown in FIG. 9, the current-feeding rail elements 20 are adapted tobe mounted on sleeper elements 40 provided with coupling studs 41similar to the studs 31 of FIG. 8, thus providing for the mounting of acontinuous current feeding track comprising a pair of current rails 10and mounted on the sleeper elements 40 intermediate a pair of trackrails 42. The dimensions and arrangement of the coupling studs 41 on thesleeper elements 40 are such that the ribs 25, 26 and 27 at the bottomface of the elements 20 may be clamped unto the top surface of thesleeper elements 40 with the studs 41 contacting the inner faces of thesaid ribs. Similarly, the track rails 42 are provided with cavitieshaving a width corresponding to the diameter of the studs 41, so as toprovide for detachably mounting the track rails 42 on the sleeperelements 41 as explained in US. Pat. No. 3,464,624 (application Ser. No.597,390).

It will be understood that the elements 20 constituting the continuouscurrent-feeding double rail track as well as the connector element 30,the sleeper elements 40 and the track rails 42 all constitute elementsof a toy building set as described in US. Pat. No. 3,005,282, and thatthe connector element 30 is adapted to be connected to the rail track atany part thereof defined by the recesses 28 comprising the rail contactfaces 14a. It will also be observed that rail tracks 20,10 may becombined with a plurality of connectors 30, some of which may be adaptedto derive current from the rails 10 to various accessories, such assignal lamps or electromechanical devices pertaining to the electrifiedtoy railway track.

Iclaim:

1. In a toy railway track comprising a plurality of sleeper elements anda pair of track rails mounted thereon an element detachably mounted onsaid sleepers intermediate said pair of track rails, said rail elementcomprising a body of electrical insulating material elongated in thedirection of the track and having a top face and a bottom face, a pairof metallic currentfeeding rails mounted on the top face of saidelement, a plurality of metallic rail contacts mounted at the bottomface of said element and each connected with one of said current feedingrails, on the top face of said element, a plurality of metallic railcoupling means at the said bottom face for detachably mounting saidelement on the sleeper elements, a connector comprising a plate ofelectrical insulating material and having a pair of metallic contactmembers mounted at one face thereof, leads connected with said contactmembers and coupling means for detachably mounting said connector on thebottom face of said rail element with its contact members contacting apair of said rail contacts at the bottom face of said rail element.

2. A current-feeding rail element, as defined in claim 1, and comprisingan elongated body of molded plastic material and of substantiallyrectangular shape, said body having a top face carrying a pair ofmetallic current-feeding rails and a bottom face provided with ribsextending along the edges thereof, a central rib in the median plane ofsaid bottom face and a plurality of transversely extending ribs locatedat regular intervals so as to define a plurality of rectangular recessesdisposed symmetrically with respect to said central rib, an aperture ineach of said recesses, said current feeding rails comprising continuousstrips of thin sheet metal bent to a cross section of inverted U-shapeand provided at one side with a plurality of bendable fastening tonguesadapted to be inserted in said apertures and to be bent over so as toabut the bottom face of the rail element within said recesses.

3 A toy railway track, as defined in claim 1, in which the sleeperelements are rectangular plate elements made of molded plastic materialand include a plurality of coupling studs adapted to engage the couplingmeans at the bottom face ofsaid rail element.

4. A connector for a current-feeding rail element, as defined in claim2, said connector comprising a plate element of rectangular shape andmade of moldable plastic material, a pair of resilient contact membersdisposed symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal median plane ofsaid plate element and coupling studs adjacent the corners of said plateelement and adapted to engage the recesses at the bottom face of saidrail element.

5. A current feeding rail element, as defined in claim 2, in which oneend of each rail is provided with a pair of resilient tonguessymmetrically disposed with respect to the median plane of the rail andextending lengthwise beyond the end of the rail so as to be adapted tobe introduced into the cavity of an adjoining rail end.

1. In a toy railway track comprising a plurality of sleeper elements anda pair of track rails mounted thereon an element detachably mounted onsaid sleepers intermediate said pair of track rails, said rail elementcomprising a body of electrical insulating material elongated in thedirection of the track and having a top face and a bottom face, a pairof metallic currentfeeding rails mounted on the top face of saidelement, a plurality of metallic rail contacts mounted at the bottomface of said element and each connected with one of said current-feedingrails, on the top face of said element, a plurality of metallic railcoupling means at the said bottom face for detachably mounting saidelement on the sleeper elements, a connector comprising a plate ofelectrical insulating material and having a pair of metallic contactmembers mounted at one face thereof, leads connected with said contactmembers and coupling means for detachably mounting said connector on thebottom face of said rail element with its contact members contacting apair of said rail contacts at the bottom face of said rail element.
 2. Acurrent-feeding rail element, as defined in claim 1, and comprising anelongated body of molded plastic material and of substantiallyrectangular shape, said body having a top face carrying a pair ofmetallic current-feeding rails and a bottom face provided with ribsextending along the edges thereof, a central rib in the median plane ofsaid bottom face and a plurality of transversely extending ribs locatedat regular intervals so as to define a plurality of rectangular recessesdisposed symmetrically with respect to said central rib, an aperture ineach of said recesses, said current feeding rails comprising continuousstrips of thin sheet metal bent to a cross section of inverted U-shapeand provided at one side with a plurality of bendable fastening tonguesadapted to be inserted in said apertures and to be bent over so as toabut the bottom face of the rail element within said recesses.
 3. A toyrailway track, as defined in claim 1, in which the sleeper elements arerectangular plate elements made of molded plastic material and include aplurality of coupling studs adapted to engage the coupling means at thebottom face of said rail element.
 4. A connector for a current-feedingrail element, as defined in claim 2, said connector comprising a plateelement of rectangular shape and made of moldable plastic material, apair of resilient contact members disposed symmetrically with respect tothe longitudinal median plane of said plate element and coupling studsadjacent the corners of said plate element and adapted to engage therecesses at the bottom face of said rail element.
 5. A current feedingrail element, as defined in claim 2, in which one end of each rail isprovided with a pair of resilient tongues symmetrically disposed withrespect to the median plane of the rail and extending lengthwise beyondthe end of the rail so as to be adapted to be introduced into the cavityof an adjoinIng rail end.